Lighting Needs for Indoor Growing of Marijuana Plants

When indoor growing of marijuana plants is decided from the start, the grower must be ready with a grow room that has all the necessary equipments needed in an indoor set-up. Whatever method is used in n indoor setting, be it SOG, SCROG, Hydroponics and others, one type of equipment is always part of an indoor growing concern and that is lights. You can use soil as the growing medium or other advance techniques in an indoor growing but you cannot escape the use of lights. This is because in an indoor setting, sunlight is not present and this is one requirement of weed plants to grow since they are not nocturnal plants. The grower must then use lights to provide the energy given by the sun through sunlight.

Though the use of lights is one of the basics that a grower must know, still there is a lot of mismanagement in terms of its proper use. Some growers are too eager that they immediately use bulbs with very strong wattage while others use ordinary fluorescent lamps that are positioned too high thereby not giving enough light to the pot plants.

The lighting needs of cannabis plants are:

During Vegetation

Most outdoor marijuana plant will take months to finish vegetation while indoor they can flower in just a few weeks. The reason for this is the length of light exposure. In an indoor setting, if given a daily light cycle of 10-12 hours, the pot plants will also take long to finish its vegetation. Growers who want to finish the vegetation period faster will use and 18 hour cycle each day or even 24 hours in some cases with no darkness at all. Once a lighting cycle is started, the grower must stick to it and not change the pattern every now and then because it might lead to the occurrence of Hermaphrodites in the weed plants.

Flowering Stage

During this stage, the grower must introduce a different lighting pattern to induce flowering of marijuana plants. The 18/6 or 24 hour exposure is no longer applicable because the pot plants will not flower in this case. The ideal lighting is 12/12 or 12 hours of light nd 12 hours of darkness. Darkness must be total as in pitchblack to allow the plants to relax and grow buds.

Are there any side effects if the plants are exposed only to 24 hour lighting during the vegetation stage?

There are no known side effects if the weed plants are exposed to 24 hour lighting. Its only purpose is to hasten growth and enter the flowering stage faster.

Are there specific lights to be used in both vegetation and flowering stage?

Yes there are and it is best to know the different lights available for growing pot plants before buying them.